SSH access

What SSH is

SSH is the safe way to get into your server from your laptop. The default is a key -- a pair of files: one public (yours to share, we keep it) and one private (never leaves your machine). Password login is available as an explicit opt-in, not the default. Your root password is never written to the instance filesystem.

Adding an SSH key

Under SSH Keys in the dashboard, choose Auto-generate to create a brand-new keypair in your browser. Download the private key once -- we only store the public half. You can also paste in an existing public key (a file ending in .pub).

Connecting

Open your instance's page and copy the SSH Command it shows. It already contains the correct address and port for that instance, so you never have to work them out yourself. Run it from the machine holding your private key -- you'll be greeted with the NairaCloud welcome banner.

Prefer to assemble it yourself? The page also shows the Address and SSH Port separately, so the command is simply ssh root@<address> -p <port>.

Two ways to authenticate

Instances are created with SSH-key authentication by default. Password authentication is an explicit choice at deploy time. The instance page shows only the credential method you selected.

• SSH key (default) -- your private key is used automatically. See Adding an SSH key above. We store only the public half.
• Root password (opt-in) -- if you chose password auth, the page shows a Root Password once. Log in with it and change it inside the instance. The password is held by the control plane, not written to the guest filesystem.

To move from password auth to keys, add your public key under SSH Keys and append it to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys inside the instance. Then disable password login in /etc/ssh/sshd_config when you are ready.

Browser console

Every instance page has a built-in Console tab. It attaches to the running instance over a short-lived token, so you don't need your key handy -- useful when you're on a laptop that isn't yours. It refreshes automatically when the token expires. For a full, persistent shell, SSH is still the way to go.

Common problems

• Permission denied -- your private key is missing or locked, or you used the wrong one. Make sure you're running the connect line from the machine that holds this instance's key.
• Connection refused -- two easy checks: the server is running, and you used the exact port from the dashboard.
• Lost your private key? If your instance has a root password, use that. If it is key-only, use the browser Console tab if it is available for your plan, or contact support for recovery. We never store private keys, so a rebuild or a new instance may be the only route if recovery is not possible.